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Iraq Public Holidays in 2022

Observance*

Jan. Sat

New Year's Day (Sovereignty Day)

Thu

Army Day (1921)(except Kurdistan)

Mar. Sat

Rebellion Anniversary (1991)(Kurdistan)

Regional

Mon

Spring Day

Apr. Sat

Baghdad Liberation Day (Kurdistan)

Regional

May Sun

Labor Day

Mon

Eid al Fitr (End of Ramadan)

Tue

Eid al Fitr Holiday

Wed

Eid al Fitr Holiday

Banks

July Sat

Eid al Adha (Feast of Sacrifice)

Sun

Eid al Adha Holiday

Mon

Eid al Adha Holiday

Tue

Eid al Adha Holiday

Thu

Republic Day

Sat

Islamic New Year

Aug. Mon

Ashura

Oct. Mon

National Iraqi Day

Sat

Moulad (The Prophet's Birthday)

Dec. Sat

Victory over Daesh

Sun

Christmas Day (tentative)

2022 public holidays will be visible to the general public in early 2022. To immediately access our full database of worldwide public holidays and bank holidays, under license, for the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and beyond, please contact us.

09 Dec 2017Iraqi Public Holiday December 10 (Al Sumaria News-Baghdad) The Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, has announced that tomorrow, Sunday, December 10, 2017, would be a public holiday in Iraq on account of Iraq's "final victory over Daesh".
•24 Sep 2017Iraqi Referendum Public Holiday in Kurdistan (Al Sumaria News-Baghdad) The Regional Government of the Kurdistan province of Iraq (KRG), through its spokesperson, Safin Darni, has announced that, Monday, September 25, 2017, would be an official public holiday "in all government departments and institutions" on the occasion of the Independence Referendum being held on that date in Kurdistan.
•09 Aug 2017Iraqi Public Holiday August 10 (Al Sumaria News-Baghdad) The Iraqi Government, via the Iraqi Cabinet, has once again declared a mandatory non-working public holiday in Iraq, on Thursday, August 10, 2017, due to forecasted high temperatures.
•31 Oct 2016Iraqi 2017 Bank Holidays Announced (The Central Bank of Iraq-Baghdad) The Central Bank of Iraq has released its official list of 2017 bank holidays in Iraq related to the list of non-working public holidays in Iraq for the upcoming calendar year 2017.
•30 Jul 2016Iraqi Public Holidays August 1-2 (Al Sumaria News-Baghdad) The Iraqi Government, via the Iraqi Cabinet, has once again declared a 2-day mandatory period of non-working public holidays in Iraq, this time on Monday and Tuesday, August 1-2, 2016, due to forecasted high temperatures.
•19 Jul 2016Iraqi Public Holidays July 20-21 (Al Sumaria News-Baghdad) The Iraqi Government, via the Iraqi Cabinet, has once again declared a 2-day mandatory period of non-working public holidays in Iraq, on Wednesday and Thursday, July 20-21, 2016, due to forecasted high temperatures.
•24 May 2016Iraqi Mulls Public Holidays Overhaul Again (Al Sumaria News-Baghdad) The Committee Chairman of Iraq's Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, has announced that it was in the process of drafting yet another piece of legislation which would overhaul the public holidays law in Iraq.
•29 Jul 2015Iraqi Public Holidays July 30 to August 2 (Al Sumaria News-Baghdad) The Iraqi Government, via its Council of Ministers, has declared a four day mandatory period of non-working public holidays in Iraq, from Thursday, July 30, until Sunday, August 2, 2015, due to current and forecasted high temperatures.
•15 Jul 2015Iraqi Public Holiday July 16 (Al Sumaria News-Baghdad) The Iraqi Government has declared tomorrow, Thursday, July 16, 2015, as a one-off non-working public holiday in Iraq due to current and forecasted high temperatures.
•23 Oct 2014Iraqi Hijri New Year 1436 Public Holidays (Al Sumaria News-Baghdad) The Iraqi Secretariat of the Council of Ministers has once again declared Saturday, October 25, 2014, as a non-working public holiday on account of the upcoming Hijri New Year 1436.
•More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Iraq public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Governing Law: On May 8, 2007, the Council of Ministers repealed the previous Holidays And Public Holidays No.110 of 1972, in particular canceling the February 8, and July 17, public holidays.
•Weekends: Article 3 of the aforementioned cabinet decree instituded Fridays and Saturdays as weekends in Iraq. In addition most offices work only half days on Thursdays.
•National Iraqi Day: This public holiday was created in early 2008 as a non-controversial date that would offend none of Iraq's sectarian groups. It commemorates the date when Iraq joined the League of Nations (the UN's predecessor) in 1932.
•Eid al Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) is officially listed as a 2 day holiday by the U.S. Embassy but unofficially is celebrated for up to 5 days. It is listed as a 4 day holiday here since no official sources could be found that change it from when it was officially 4 days.
•April 9 (anniversary of the fall of Baghdad and the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003) or Baghdad Liberation Day was a public holiday in Iraq from 2004-2006 but was abolished, nationally in 2007. However, it remains an official public holiday in the Kurdish autonomous region, for all businesses, government offices, schools, universities and hospitals .
•July 14: This public holiday, instituted in 2007, commemorates the 1958 revolution, led by Abdelkareem Qassem, who spearheaded the Free Officers Movement that turned Iraq from a monarchy into a republic.
•Novruz: This is the new year celebrations which date back to Persian times and are held in various forms in Iran, Afghanistan and some former Soviet republics. Traditionally in Iraq the festival is marked by country gatherings where tradition reigns, from costumes to food to music and dance. Nouroz is considered one of the most important Kurdish festivals. In 2006, the government of the autonomous region of Kurdistan called a three day public holiday.
•Caveats: Due to the lack of stability in the country, the consistency of public holidays will be in flux. Traditional Islamic public holidays will continue to be celebrated by various factions and will always be, regardless of what the long term government proclamations might be. In addition, many of the decrees related to Saddam-era holidays, are either ignored, or take many years to take effect (one glaring example, July 17, which the Governing Council voted to scrap in 2003, but which remained until 2007).
•Religious Minorities: The draft law on public holidays of 2008 recognizes the rights of some religious minorities to observe their holidays.
• Christians: 25 December (although this was later declared a national public holiday)
• Jews: the Day of Atonement, Pessah, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
• Sabeans (Mandeans, tiny Gnostic sect that reveres John the Baptist) the Panja Feast, which is their major holiday on 7-8 August, and the little feast on 23 November.
• Yazidis, the first Friday of December of every year, the first Wednesday of April according to the Eastern calendar, 23-30 September according to the Eastern calendar, and 18-21 July according to the Eastern calendar.
•Iraq International Codes IQ and IRQ (2 and 3-letter ISO3166 codes) and .iq (ICANN national top-level internet domain). • Other Sources of Information The following specialized websites are also a good source of Iraq information and news: Central Bank of Iraq (Iraq central bank), UnitedHealthcare Global (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (Iraq maps, demographics and economic statistics), the IFES (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and voter participation in Iraq), and Wikipedia (includes Iraq commemorative dates that are not necessarily public holidays).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in Iraq, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions.

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Religious Holidays : Public holidays in Iraq that are based on certain religious calendars may be subject to local variations due to differing interpretations between different religious authorities, or to seemingly arbitrary changes in the date a holiday is celebrated because it conflicts with another holiday that is based on another calendar, or because the day of the holiday is deemed inauspicious (bad luck). To find out more about these uncertainties, see the footnote below, if any, for each specific religion.

(2)

Muslim Holidays : Muslim bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Iraq were evaluated using the Umm al-Qura Calendar of Saudi Arabia which is used in Saudi Arabia and in most of the Persian Gulf States. Holidays may occur a day later in countries outside the Gulf region. The sunrises, sunsets, moon phases, moonrises and moonsets used in these calculations are based on the location of Mecca (latitude 21.42°N, longitude, 39.82°E, GMT+3 hours, no summer time rules).

DisclaimerIn many parts of
the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local
authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of
2022 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Iraq, we
cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented
above. You are therefore advised to verify
the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Iraq, before planning any
trip to Iraq. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit
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